A Tennessee mother is feeling pretty vindicated — and very relieved — after a nagging text to her husband saved their three-month-old son’s life.
When Rebecca Tafaro Boyer got a photo via text showing baby William in his car seat, she noticed that the straps weren’t positioned exactly right, and asked her husband David to adjust them before driving off.
Thankfully, he listened to his wife’s warning. Just minutes later, he and the baby were involved in a car wreck that sent David to the hospital — but left little William without a scratch.
What’s wrong with this photo? Rebecca Tafaro Boyer saw what might have been a fatal flaw in how this car seat was set — and may have saved her son’s life
Uh-oh! On her first day back at work following maternity leave, she asked her husband for frequent updates – prompting him to send this text
‘Friends, let’s have a quick chat about something that some of my family members think makes me a super annoying overprotective mom — car seat safety,’ the Nashville mom began a now-viral Facebook post.
She was heading back to work as a Registered Nurse at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on July 14 following her maternity leave and was feeling particularly nervous about leaving her son, so she asked her husband David to send frequent updates.
‘I demanded that my husband send me hourly updates and recaps on how baby William was handling his first day away from mommy,’ she wrote.
At around 2:15, David texted to say he was taking the baby to Walgreens, and sent along a snap of the baby in his car seat.
‘My nagging wife reply was to correct William’s position in the car seat — the straps were too loose and the chest clip was way too low. And because I know my husband, I’m sure that he laughed at me and rolled his eyes before tightening the car seat and fixing the chest clip,’ she wrote.
Timing: Minutes after she asked him to fix the straps (and he obliged), they got into a car wreck
Yikes: The car was totaled after a driver without a license pulled out into oncoming traffic, directly in front of them
Phew! Rebecca’s husband David broke his foot in three places — but three-month old William was fine
Luckily, despite any perception of ‘nagging,’ he did in fact fix it —- because minutes later, they had an accident.
‘At 2:30 my phone rang,’ Rebecca wrote. ‘My husband’s panicked voice came through the line, “Honey, we had a car wreck. We are fine, but the car is going to be totaled.”‘
David was driving just a few miles from their house when a woman pulled driving without a license pulled out into oncoming traffic, right in front of him.
He was going 50mph and didn’t have time to stop. He slammed on the breaks but collided with her car, smashing up the front of their vehicle.
David was banged up, breaking his foot in three places and dislocating three toes. William, however, was totally fine.
‘My precious little bundle of joy was so well restrained in his car seat, THAT HE DIDN’T EVEN WAKE UP,’ Rebecca wrote. ‘Even with the impact of the two cars, William only received a minor jolt — so insignificant that he was able to continue on with his nap, and then spend the next two hours flirting with nurses in the Le Bonheur ED.’
Sleepin’ like a baby! In fact, the little boy didn’t even wake up from his nap
Listen to mom! Rebecca was relieved that her ‘nagging’ actually paid off
Rebecca was so relieved at their good fortune that she wanted to pass on her new wisdom to other parents.
‘All infants should be REAR FACING in the back seat until at least the age of two and snugly secured in a 5 POINT HARNESS in a car seat base that does not move more than one inch in any direction,’ she wrote.
‘I am so thankful that my husband took the extra one minute that was necessary to put William in his car seat safely. I can’t even begin to imagine how different the outcome could have been,’ she went on.
‘I truly believe that the reason my family is at home sitting on the couch with a pair of crutches instead of down at the hospital is because of my annoying nagging mom voice.’
But that’s not all. Rebecca also explained that, following the accident, the car seat that saved her son’s like is going ‘straight in the trash’.
Warning: She shared the story on Facebook, where it has gone viral
Pay attention: She hopes other parents will learn from her experience
‘According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) my expensive, barely broken-in car seat is now garbage,’ she wrote.
‘Any car seat that has been involved in a moderate to severe motor vehicle incident where the car cannot be driven away from the scene of the crash immediately becomes defective.’
Of course, because their $170 Britax BSafe 35 car seat did so well the first time around, they plan to buy the same one to replace it.
‘Tonight I am on my knees thanking God for watching over my two precious boys, thanking the amazing staff at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Emergency Department for checking out my little man so quickly, praising Britax for making an incredibly safe car seat, lamenting the loss of my beloved Volkswagen Jetta, and most of all thanking my husband — who has finally proven that yes, indeed, he is actually listening when I nag him!’
In the two weeks since, Rebecca’s post has been shared over 30,000 times, and she’s offered a few updates.
Reading the comments on her post, she learned some other valuable information about car seats that she wanted to pass on, including that different car seats need to be locked into different positions to work effectively.
She also found out that car seat strap cushions can be ‘deadly’ because any additional padding can cause kids to slide out, and advised other parents to avoid them.
Finally, she added, car seats that are discarded following a crash can actually be recycled — but owners should find ways to destroy them with knives or scissors first, lest an unsuspecting parent pick it up off the curb.
More advice: She also shared some updates, including tips she learned from commenters
Toss ’em! Car seats should be discarded following an accident
She also shared an update on her insurance company after the crash